Until ten years ago I always saw Liszt as kind of the same as Chopin: overly romantic and making music to fall asleep to. And then I heard his masterwork Les années de Pèlerinages. A work that traces his spiritual path through life, from romantic youth through searching middle age and ending in elderly transcendence. And all told through the piano.
Alfred Brendel presents us with three fragments, taken from the second and third years. They were composed between 1837 and 1877, in different countries, indeed while traveling through Italy. By the end Liszt was an ordained priest, though I doubt he was also practicing that profession.
A brilliant performance by Brendel, but I admit I am missing the clarity in the recording that I’ve become used to. Philip’s in the 80s just misses that beat.